International Screenwriting and Production

The Master in International Screenwriting and Production - MISP is a postgraduate program that aims at creating professional working in the entertainment business (mainly screenwriters, story editors, and producers), providing them with a thorough understanding of the audiovisual industry and a strong knowledge of the storytelling techniques, which are the heart of every project of feature film and television series.

The Master is organized in collaboration with Fondazione Perseus.

The Faculty is highly International, and gathers top professionals from America and from some of the main European industries. In past years there have been lectures by Oscar nominees and winners such as William Nicholson (Shadowlands, Gladiator, Les Miserables), David Seidler (The King's Speech), Randall Wallace (Braveheart, The Man in the Iron Mask, We Were Soldiers).

The MISP is a full-time intensive course, with a maximum enrollment of 42 students.

Network

The Master in International Screenwriting and Production is part of a unique network of top companies and professionals of the entertainment industry in Italy and also in the USA, in the UK, and in other European countries.

The MISP is characterized by the extremely high percentage of alumni that work successfully as writers or producers in the audiovisual industry: they have been authors of thousands of hours of prime time TV series and a good number of feature films, many of them highly successful and/or with a big International impact

Program Structure

Program Structure

Program

Five disciplines will be subject of a specific exam at the end of the class (around June 2019). The credits will be acquired according to the following exam:

Internship and Final Project

Three months before the end of classes, participants in the MISP will choose one of the two following career tracks:screenwriting or production, and invest their time on the final project or on the internship.

MISP students who choose the screenwriting career will present a script for a feature film or a TV pilot, which can be either an original idea or an adaptation. This script can be written in English, Italian, French or Spanish.
MISP students who will choose the production track will undertake an internship on a film/TV series shooting (or also, if possible, within an established production or distribution company, a TV network or an advertising agency).

For foreign students who do not speak Italian, it can be difficult/impossible to begin an internship for the production track in Italy: in this case either they have to find an internship in their own country or they have to choose the writing track, and deliver a script as their final work.

For a good number of the students who will choose the screenwriting path, at the end of their final projects there will also be the possibility of doing an internship in some production company or network or writers room. This internship cannot be guaranteed in advance for everyone, as it will always depend on the acceptance of the candidate by the employer.

Caterina Vacchi, Head of production department Atlantyca (Geronimo Stilton)

Career Opportunities

Career Opportunities

Graduates from the MISP are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities. Graduates have both the theoretical knowledge and the methodological tools suited to pursue professional and managerial careers as:

Screenwriters or creative producers of television series and feature films;

Authors of TV entertainment programs and documentaries, copywriters, creators of video games and web series, writers of comic books and novels and fiction editors in publishing companies;

Story editors and script consultants;

Supervisors of evaluation, acquisition and programming of TV shows;

Professionals working in different areas of the television and film industry (physical production, distribution, acquisition, product placement, etc.)

Student Testimonials

Student Testimonials

Francesco Arlanch, Screenwriter (class of 2000)

Author of around twenty TV miniseries for RAI (National Italian Broadcaster), most of them among the top rating shows of the year. Author also of many episodes of top-rating TV series, two feature films, and some animation series. A good number of them have been broadcasted in many countries of the world (for ex. John Paul II, starring Jon Voight, coproduction with CBS, Anna Karenina, Sant'Agostino, etc.).

“Years ago I attended this Master’s Program as a pastime activity (at that time it only lasted a few months). Today I make a living from what I learned in those few months and I’ve fulfilled a dream that before I didn’t even dare to nurture: to write for the screen. This Master Program can change your life.”

Daniela Delle Foglie, Screenwriter (class of 2011)

Right after graduating from the Master Program, Daniela succeeded in writing several episodes of the teen series Talent High School. In 2013 she has been appointed to be one of the head writers of the third season of the top rating TV series RAI Che Dio Ci Aiuti, where she is now working on season 4. She also co-wrote episodes of Don Matteo, in addition to creating new TV series concepts. In 2015 she has published her first novel for Mondadori.

“Undeniably, this Master’s Program provided me with the tools necessary for turning my passion into a real job. During his lecture at the Master, John Truby said something that has become a kind of mantra for me: "Write a story that can change your life." Maybe I've done that already, or maybe I’ll manage to do it someday, but every time I find myself in front of a blank page, I think about it and I try.”

Mariachiara Oltolini, Animation Screenwriter (class of 2013)

Mariachiara works as story editor and screenwriter for Calon TV, a Cardiff-based animation production company that works for BBC, ARD, RAI, among others.

“This program has played a major role in my professional training. It didn’t only teach me the craft of writing, but also taught me a working method founded on collaboration and teamwork. It wasn’t only a training program, but a valuable opportunity for growth. And for that I am deeply grateful.”

Edoardo Gino, Story editor for Lux vide (class of 2015)

Edoardo Gino is currently working in Lux vide, as story editor for a new TV series for Sky Italy and for the new season of the TV series for RaiUno Un passo dal cielo.

“I entered the MISP with two things: a passion for writing, and the dream to make a living out of it. Now, just a few months after the end of the program, my dream has become a concrete perspective. You need your 3% of talent on your own, but if you want to learn the 97% of technique and persistence that you need to write a great story, the MISP is your place to be.”

Entry Requirements

Entry Requirements

General entry requirements:

Completion of at least an undergraduate degree, obtained after a minimum of 3 years of study (180 ECTS)

The undergraduate degree must be obtained before the start of the program

Università Cattolica will evaluate candidates’ academic and personal background and decide if they meet the specific conditions for admission to the chosen graduate program

Program-specific entry requirements:

Degrees in Literature, Philosophy, Foreign Languages, Media studies and Communication are preferable, but no other degree is excluded.

Students must be able to excel in courses that are reading-and-writing intensive. Applicants are required to demonstrate a high level of English language proficiency.

Language proficiency

Applicants whose first language is not English will need to have either:

TOEFL iBT overall score of at least 80, or

Academic IELTS overall score of at least 6.0, or

Successfully completed a degree program taught in the English language

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